| Abstract [eng] |
The main purpose of this master thesis is to determine the impact of left-wing political parties on income inequality in Lithuania. The work consists of three main parts: the analysis of literature, the methodology and the research results. After the analysis of literature, the author assumes that left-wing political parties might reduce income inequality by implementing economic policy which corresponds to leftist ideology. Left-wing political parties’ economic policy is characterized by lower economic growth, lower unemployment, higher inflation, and higher government spending in the short run. These economic indicators directly impact the reduction of income inequality. To confirm the assumption, the author created methodology and used some details of other authors methodologies. In the research the author used dynamic time lag regression model. The performed research revealed that Lithuanian left-wing political parties had impact on the economic indicators in the period from 1997 to 2019. Leftist had impact on economic growth and unemployment reduction when they have taken office. They had higher government spending in second years of being in power. Besides, they affected inflation rate growth in the fourth years of being in power. Finally, the research showed that left-wing political parties had impact on income inequality reduction in the period from 2005 to 2019. The left parties had impact on gini coefficient and decile coefficient reduction. However, the impact is only after a long period - 4 years of being in power. The author believes that the results of the study will contribute to the future researches of income inequality in Lithuania. The author suggests analyzing the content of the policies implemented by the left political parties. It could help to get a better understanding of whether any specific decisions have been taken that have led to a reduction in income inequality in the fourth year of taking office. |
